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AAMC reviewing conflict-of-interest policies for clinical research

Academic medical centers seek to tighten rules governing drug company sponsorship of research activities.

By Jay Greene, amednews staff. June 11, 2001.

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In an effort to restore public trust in clinical research activities, a task force created by the Assn. of American Medical Colleges met last month to begin revising AAMC's 10-year-old conflict-of-interest guidelines for academic researchers.

During the past four years, at least two academic health centers and one research facility have been sued in part over failure to disclose the financial interest of faculty members.

All academic institutions have policies for monitoring potential conflicts. However, research published last year showed there is a wide range of ways in which medical schools and teaching hospitals manage conflicts, according to studies in the Nov. 1, 2000, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v284n17/abs/joc01590.html) and the Nov. 30, 2000, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/343/22/1616).

"Our meeting reinforced the view that the public and our own community view [conflict of interest] as an important issue that warrants improvement," said Jordan Cohen, MD, AAMC president. "Our guidelines are valid, but there is a desire among the group to be more specific to give institutions further guidance."

The 28-member task force -- which includes clinical investigators, patients and representatives from medical schools and teaching hospitals -- will review and update AAMC's 1990 guidelines on faculty conflicts of interest. In 2002, the task force will develop a new set of principles for addressing institutional financial conflicts of interest in clinical research. [...]